Death To Los Campesinos! – Los Campesinos!
Hold On Now, Youngster…, the stellar full length debut from this Welsh septet will be released in North America April 1st on Canada’s Arts & Crafts records. Their frenetic indie rock mixes Broken Social Scene’s “everyone we know who sings or plays is in the band” aesthetic, Art Brut’s snotty punk pop attitude, Arctic Monkey’s insanely wordy social observation and Architecture in Helsinki’s eclectic instrumentation with great male/female vocal interplay. Click on the cover to pre-order a deluxe edition from Insound.
KALX is co-announcing their show at Bimbo’s June 6 so tune in towards the end of May for free tickets. Los Campesinos! on myspace
That Man I Shot – Drive-By Truckers
One of the more chilling songs about war I’ve ever heard, inspired by a backstage conversation between Patterson Hood and some Gulf war vets. Brighter Than Creation’s Dark maintains the high octane rocking and quality songcraft we’ve come to expect from these Athens, GA folks despite the departure of guitarist and third songwriter Jason Isbell. The legendary Spooner Oldham sits in on keys throughout and bassist Shonna Tucker contributes some fine songs to fill the absence left by her now ex-husband Isbell.
Paper Switchblade – Tommy Guerrero
Record number eight from this Bay Area skate legend proves he’s still an unstoppable groove machine. Return Of The Bastard is the perfect soundtrack to those slow summer cruises with the top down. These killer funk, deep soul and Latin instrumentals have kept my toes tapping for weeks.
